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Neutral citations
A neutral citation identifies a judgment by court, year and number, independent of any law report. Here is how the Supreme Court and the Punjab & Haryana High Court use them.
Supreme Court of India
| Format | YYYY INSC NNN: year, the court code INSC, and a running number for the year. |
| Verified examples | Pankaj Bansal v. Union of India, 2023 INSC 866 Raj Reddy Kallem v. State of Haryana, 2024 INSC 347 (decided 08.04.2024) |
| Where it appears | At the top of the first page of the judgment as published by the Supreme Court. |
Punjab & Haryana High Court
| Format | YYYY:PHHC:NNNNNN: year, the court code PHHC, and a six-digit running number. Division Bench judgments carry the suffix -DB. Used from 2023. |
| Verified examples | Rohit Kumar v. State of Punjab, CRM-M-13900-2021, decided 03.04.2024: 2024:PHHC:044297 Division Bench, MRC-1-2020, decided 04.03.2024: 2024:PHHC:029710-DB |
| Where it appears | In the header of the judgment or order as uploaded by the High Court. |
How to search
- Supreme Court: open eSCR (scr.sci.gov.in) and search by neutral citation, party name or text; or browse judgments by date and by case number.
- P&H High Court: use the judgment search on the High Court website, which accepts the neutral citation, or the case type, number and year.
- Across High Courts: eCourts judgment search lets you search by text and filter by court and date.
Citing in pleadings
Give the neutral citation alongside the law-report citation where both exist, for example: Pankaj Bansal v. Union of India, 2023 INSC 866. Always cite from the court’s own copy and check whether the judgment has been followed, distinguished or overruled.
Verified 9 October 2026. Each example above was checked against the judgment header. General information only.